This recipe was a creation of opportunity – mainly meaning that I had a lot of leftovers and I wanted to create something that would be a change of pace for the family. And sometimes those types of cooking experiments don’t work – but this one worked well. Very, very, very well. So much so that I wanted to share it – and what’s great about this recipe is that you can make it what you want.

Smoked Sausage & Bacon Baked Penne Recipe

Ingredients:

Chopped smoked sausage (1-2 links) (cooked)

3-4 pieces of bacon (cooked) – diced

½ box of penne – cooked al dente

(1) jar of pre-made pasta sauce

4-5 slices of provolone (sliced and chopped)

½ bag of mozzarella

½ bag of pizza blend cheese

¼ cup of Parmesan cheese (grated)

Directions:

Egg Setup: You’ll need a plate setter for the 2nd half of this recipe – or a 2nd egg J. For the first half of the cook – set up the egg for direct cooking, with the cast iron pan on the grid. Target temperature is 350 for both the direct and indirect portions of the cook

Step 1: Sauté the sausage and bacon in the cast iron pan until the sausage is warmed through and everything starts getting a little crispy.

Step 2: Remove the sausage/bacon combo from the heat and mix in with the pre-cooked pasta. While that is happening, remove your grid, put the plate setter into the egg and replace the grid so that you are now set up to cook indirect.

Step 3: While the egg is coming back up to temperature (targeting 350 indirect), mix the sausage, pasta, sauce & the majority of the cheese together (save some cheese for topping).

Step 4: Put the pasta mixture back into the cast iron pan and then top with the remaining cheese

Step 5: Bake on the egg (indirect) for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown on top.

That’s it – super simple and tasty!

This is a great dish to prepare ahead of time for a party or event – but the leftovers are also great for lunches and weeknight dinners.